Can we sue the Council if we slip on ungritted roads

[kia]

I was just wondering if anyone knows whether you can sue the council if you slip on ungritted roads.I only ask as in Southport today we have what can only be described as an icerink on all our roads and pavements due to rain in the middle of the night and then it icing on top of it to create trecherous conditions.I myself as yet have not fallen but come very close to it and i do know of numerous accidents today on the roads and on the pavements,one woman having fallen on the road where she was walking for safety.

My brother and i have just got into a discussion about what you would do if you do slip and i wondered if anyone knew what happens if you do slip on it as tomorrows weather is set to be as bad and as the ice did not thaw in places its likely to be as bad again :-xand if anyones got any ski,s let me know :rolleyes:or even ice skates would be good xkia

[charleyfarley]

I've got a couple of pairs of skis you can borrow kisskiss;)

 

 

 

and as for your question, I don't know the answer, although I have heard it argued that you shouldn't clear your path of snow, because if you just leave it as fallen snow then if someone falls on it then it's an accident, but if you clear it and they still fall, then you're responsible ........but don't quote me on it:confused:

 

as for the Council's responsibilities, I don't know

[Robdblynd]

How about a snowboard Kia ............. I know where to get hold of one ........

 

 

 

 

 

silly owner fell off ond broke his leg while racing down one of the French Alps!!

[JonCris]

In England it depends because there is no statutory duty to salt the roads. You would have to prove negligence such as not salting a major road when it was known there was to be a heavy frost. Such a failure could be considered negligence & therefore actionable.

 

In Scotland the law is different in that there IS a duty to salt the roads & failure alone constitutes a neglect of that duty

[Gilbert_O'Sullivan]

Surely common sense dictates that very cold weather will cause ice and therefore dangerous driving and walking conditions?

 

Even when roads are gritted there will obviously be patches that are still untreated because no-one can be expected to grit every square inch of road.

 

My council for one doesn't order people to drive or walk in these conditions.

 

Would a council be blamed for ruining some lady's new hairdo just because it rained and they didn't provide her with a brolly?

 

And I'm not aware that councils even grit pavements, mine doesn't.

[PGH7447]

Maybe we can sue councils for gritting the roads and causing an unsightly build up of salt residue.

 

Good Grief - getting more like America everyday whereby everybody wants to litigate over anything

[silverfox1961]

A few years ago, my mum slipped on an icy manhole cover breaking her arm and hip. my sister reported it to the council to make them aware just in case someone else fell and they sent my mum an insurance claim form:confused:

She didn't sue them as she has the intelligence to realise it's not the councils fault if things ice up. It's down to us to walk or drive to the conditions.

I've driven in appalling conditions but by changing the way I drove, i got where i needed to go safely.

 

fox

[JonCris]

the moral indignation of some (not to mention their lack of understanding of the common law) would be funny if it didn't involve injury to someone

 

No one (not even the courts) expect councils to resolve every risk but they do expect that if it's known in advance there will be severe weather for them to take reasonable steps to minimize the risks to both pedestrians & other road users.

 

For example having been told of the slippery manhole cover & doing nothing about it thereby causing others to injure themselves would the attitude of some be the same particularly if that injured person was them...... I doubt it

[Gilbert_O'Sullivan]

I think the manhole cover is slightly different scenario to what was posted by the original reader, who in effect asks can they sue if they slip on ice on a pavement/road that hasn't been treated with grit.

 

I'd say no to the original question as my council doesn't grit pavements, in fact, they only grit the one main road near me and ignore the other 30 or so streets.

 

Litigation would be a nightmare for a start-what if a lady falls but was wearing unsuitable shoes anyway? What if she was walking too fast? Or after several drinks?

 

The same could be for cars too-I know for a fact that some idiots would still attempt to drive at 30mph on ice then whinge because they skided into a wall.

 

Again, people need to use their common sense, if it is icy then it will be slipery.

 

And gritters can only do their best but a mixture of the elements, such as a severe downpour will wash a lot of it away and then that rain will freeze overnight.

[JonCris]

Gilbert all of your comments are based on 'what if' We could go on with 'what if' scenarios until the cows come home each to the benefit of the differing circumstances. The point is that any fault, if any, would have to be determined by a court

 

Also if your council doesn't grit only the one road you mention as a matter of policy then in the event of serious crash they could find themselves being sued for substantial compensation. Not gritting to save money can be a very false economy indeed not to say putting lives at risk

[kia]

Thanks for all your answers and in answer to the reply that you dont go out if its bad weather well as far as im concerned i have an elderly father who i have to visit most days and as i am only on carers allowance i do not have alot of income to be able to afford to pay for taxis so i have no option than to attempt to walk on the ice and hope i dont fall.And as for suing the council i was never gonna do that just wondered if it was possible.

And guess what the council gritted alot of the pavements round here over night how ironic wonder if there worried or has someone fallen on it gotta wonder havent u :rolleyes:xxkia

[Rooster-UK]

You will probably find that any grit on the pavement is over-spread from gritting the roads.

 

JonCris, regarding only gritting one road, you are making a rather sweeping statement (no pun intended).

You don't know the circumstances or location of G O'S.

You will find that most councils will grit any through route, priority given to main roads and bus routes. Any road that is part of a "closed" estate is way down on the list. Cul de Sacs don't even make the list.

The road that I live in has never been gritted in 25 years. But then I wouldn't expect it to be. If a gritter lorry came down our road, there would be nowhere for it to turn. It would have to reverse all the way back, between the parked cars and, as most gritting is done at night, in the dark.

It's quite possible that where G O'S lives all the side roads are cul de sacs, in which case they wouldn't be gritted.

All in all, I think the councils do a pretty good job in keeping the traffic moving in icy weather. To grit every square inch of every road would take a hell of a lot more drivers and gritting lorries than they've already got.

What would they do with them all for the other ten months of the year?

One thing's for certain, we'd all be paying a lot more council-tax to cover it!

 

Regards, Rooster.

[clemma]

A work colleague (who is 60) slipped and fell cracking 2 ribs thanks to the ice. Now this was on a main road/bus route, which should always get priority. The councils excuse.....we weren't expecting it? I'm sorry, but it's Winter, the weather is freezing and we had snow the previous day.

 

Although, I think it has more to do with the council investing money in the Iceland bank that went bust.....

[Rooster-UK]

Well I've always found that you can use the gritters in this area as a more relible weather forcaster than any of the weathermen. They seem to get it right 99% of the time.

[clemma]

Well I've always found that you can use the gritters in this area as a more relible weather forcaster than any of the weathermen. They seem to get it right 99% of the time.

 

Must be the North/South divide thing

 

Seriously though, this council (not mine) lost so much money in the Iceland bank that they seem to have made severe cutbacks. My colleague was off work (no sick pay) for nearly 2 weeks! If only it was near to Christmas, this would be another BAH HUMBUG!

[flyingdoc]

I would say no.

 

There was an incident not so long ago when a guy skidded on ice and crashed his car into a bridge and tried to claim that the council was to blame for not gritting the road - they basically told him to take a hike.

[Goldlady]

A gritter came up our back lane/cul de sac last week - it was the first one I have seen there in ten years. It was there because the bin wagon was due an hour later.

[dx100uk]

urm.

 

let hope we dont have a heat wave.

cause then we'd be demanding the council to put ice down beause we might burn our feet...........

 

mad

 

dx

[JonCris]

You will probably find that any grit on the pavement is over-spread from gritting the roads.

 

JonCris, regarding only gritting one road, you are making a rather sweeping statement (no pun intended).

You don't know the circumstances or location of G O'S.

You will find that most councils will grit any through route, priority given to main roads and bus routes. Any road that is part of a "closed" estate is way down on the list. Cul de Sacs don't even make the list.

The road that I live in has never been gritted in 25 years. But then I wouldn't expect it to be. If a gritter lorry came down our road, there would be nowhere for it to turn. It would have to reverse all the way back, between the parked cars and, as most gritting is done at night, in the dark.

It's quite possible that where G O'S lives all the side roads are cul de sacs, in which case they wouldn't be gritted.

All in all, I think the councils do a pretty good job in keeping the traffic moving in icy weather. To grit every square inch of every road would take a hell of a lot more drivers and gritting lorries than they've already got.

What would they do with them all for the other ten months of the year?

One thing's for certain, we'd all be paying a lot more council-tax to cover it!

 

Regards, Rooster.

 

 

I know precisely what goes on re gritting & the authorities duties The question was asked "can I sue the council" the answer is yes you can if you can prove negligence. eg if after being advised that a particular area away from the normal inspection area is dangerous & fail to take steps to rectify it they may be considered negligent

[JonCris]

Thanks for all your answers and in answer to the reply that you dont go out if its bad weather well as far as im concerned i have an elderly father who i have to visit most days and as i am only on carers allowance i do not have alot of income to be able to afford to pay for taxis so i have no option than to attempt to walk on the ice and hope i dont fall Quite some of us live in the real world where we have to take our chances with the weather & where even walking 'carefully' can still lead to an accident.And as for suing the council i was never gonna do that just wondered if it was possible. The answer was yes

And guess what the council gritted alot of the pavements round here over night how ironic wonder if there worried or has someone fallen on it gotta wonder havent u :rolleyes:xxkia

Almost certainly the latter

[flyingdoc]

I would be interested to see the precedent for this - I personally would have said no because to prove negligence you have to prove duty of care and although the council have a duty of care to keep pavements and roads in repair I would say that does not extend to ice and snow.

[kia]

least the ice has now gone thank goodness till the next time thanks for all your answers though i never slipped this time but do know of one guy who did banged his head quite bad and had alot of bruises unfortunately he slipped in his own drive :rolleyes:opssss never mind eh xxkia

[Gilbert_O'Sullivan]

I would be interested to see the precedent for this - I personally would have said no because to prove negligence you have to prove duty of care and although the council have a duty of care to keep pavements and roads in repair I would say that does not extend to ice and snow.

 

Yes, what about somebody falling over a kerb that has been covered in snow because the grit was ineffective to a heavy storm?

 

Gritting is not a guarantee that ice or snow won't still form on top of it.

 

I've never heard of anybody suing their council because they slip on ice.

 

There would be millions of claims and all councils would go bust.